Starbucks to open new store at Temple Square

Proving that a good cup of coffee can traverse divides and cross bridges, Starbucks has announced plans to build a new store at Temple Square, located in Salt Lake City. Allowing the popular coffee shop to open a store on Temple Square, which serves as the spiritual and international headquarters for the LDS Church, will be the first non-LDS owned business to do so. Current plans show to build the new Starbucks where the fountain currently sits.

Starbucks, which operates more than 15,000 stores in 44 countries and 64 stores in Utah, said the Temple Square deal was nothing short of a coup. Said Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, “Opening a Starbucks on the Great Wall of China? Getting permission to put a Starbucks in Vatican City? These were simply child’s play. None of those compared to the triumph of opening a store in the middle of Temple Square.”

LDS President Thomas S. Monson echoed similar sentiments. “While some may see this business partnership as controversial, I believe that the faithful will see this move as divine inspiration. As far as I’m concerned, nothing is more spiritual than walking around Temple Square with your eternal companion in one hand and a warm cup of coffee in the other.”

Some however weren’t immediately convinced, including Presiding Bishop H. David Burton. “I have to admit, I needed some coaxing to see the enlightenment of allowing a large coffee shop to be built in the middle of Temple Square. In the end, it was some serious prayer and fasting – along with a tall caramel macchiato – that did me in”

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